Operator&#39;s key.



OPERATORS KEY.

Application filed August 23, 1907.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 13, 1909. Serial No. 389,814.

1 '0 all whom it may concern:

lle it known that I, liar lI. Mnxsox, citizen ot' the United States,residing at lllyria, in the county of Lorain and State of Ohio, haveinvented a certain new and usetul improvement in Operators Keys, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying (.lrawings, forming a part ot'this specification.

My invention relates to telephonic circuit changing apparatus,particularly to ringing and listening keys used in the cord circuit atthe central exchange, the object of the invention being to eliminatesome of the errors and operation ditliculties caused by the det'cctivcoperation of keys of this kind now in use. I

Keys of this class usually comprise two sets of contact springs, one setcontrolling the connection of the operators telephone set with the line,and the other controlling the connection 01. the ringing generator withthe line, this latter set normally closing the cord circuit and whenactuated disconnecting the answering part of the cord circuit andconnecting the calling part thereof with the generator. A key lever isusually provided for controlling the operation of the spring sets, and aball, roller or other parts, of insulating material, being usuallycarried by the key to engage the actuating springs ot the spring sets.Means are also usually provided for locking the key lever in itsactuated position after it has caused operation of the first set ofsprings to connect the operators telephone set with the cord circuit,whereas the key lever will be held in its actuated position uponactuation of the ringing springs only so long as it is manually heldthcre by the. operator. The means for locking the key when moved to itslistening-in position are usually spring means, and in most cases arethe actuating springs themselves of the listeningdn contact spring set,and when the key lever is released mannally it is thr wn back by springpower to and beyond its normal position. Also, in

prder that the key lever is held in its normal the lever between theactuating springs of the listening-in and ringing sets, respectively. Inthese prior keys the ringing set, besides the actuating spring, has anormal contact spring and an alternate contact spring, the normalspringonly being nor mally engaged by the actuating sprin In thisarrangement, when the key lever is snapped back to normal from thelistening in position t is thrown against. the actuating spring of theringing set and causes disengagement of this actuating spring from thenormal contact spring, which causes a disagrceablc click to be heard-inthe calling snbscribefis receiver. \Vhere the cam lever is balancedbetween the actuating springs of the sets, the pressure ot the ringingset actuatingspring against the cam must be cmintcracted by the pressureot the listeningin actuating spring, and the ringing actuating spring istherefo e restrained more or less t'roan making con act with the inneror normal contact spring, and at'te' a key is in service a short whilethe, engagement be tween the inner and actuating springs is very likelyto be broken. To overcome this it is customary to give the inside ornormal spring a slight tension to cause it to follow the actuatingspring a short distance, but this spring action soon wears out and thetrouble referred to occurs.

To overcome all these. dillicnltics is the main purpose of my invention,and l attain this by replacing the actuating springs by dummy springs incmlnection with the actuating or inner contact springs, the dummysprings being long to be engaged by the cam lever, and the inner contactsprings may be made ot the same length as the inner or alternate contactsyn'ings. 'lhcse dummy springs are so adjushal that they must move aconsiderable distance before they will engage the contact spring tocause disconnectiou thereof from the normal contact spring andconnection thereof with the alternate contact; spring. 'lhcrefore, whenthe cam snaps back from the. listening-in position there may beconsiderable overthrow thereof and considerable movement of the dummysprings without in any way afi'ecting the contact relations of theringing set springs. The dummy springs can also be given any tension toassist in balancing the cam lever in its normal position withoutinterfering with the ringing contact springs.

hly invention will be better understood when described with reference tothe accompanying drawii'ig, in which- Figure l. is a side elevation viewof a key incorporating my invention; Fig. 2 is a rear view thereof,parts being broken away to more clearly illustrate the arrangement; andFig. 3 is a sectional View taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

The key shown comprises the vertical supporting bar 1, and the topsupporting bar 2 on which is mounted the escutcheon plate 3. In theopening, 4 through the plates 2 and 3 extends the cam frame 5 ofthe key(3, this cam frame being pivoted at 7 in said opening in a well-knownmanner. At the lower end of the cam frame are pivoted the rollers 8, S

and stop projections t) and It) on the cam frame engage against the topplate 2 to limit the rotation of the key. At the bottom of thesupporting bar .1 are supported a plurality of vertical circuit-changingsprings, a group being shown associated with each cam roller. Each groupcomprises an inner set of ringing circuit-controlhug springs and anouter set of listening-in springs for controlling the operation of theoperatons telephone set with the cord circuit. The inner set comprisesthe contact or actuating spring 1], the normal contact spring 12 and thealternate contact spring 13. Lying adjacent the contact. spring 11 is aspring t l which I hall a dummy spring and which cxtcnds up 'ardlybeyond the other springs into cugagen'icnt with the corresponding camroller. The contact spring .11 carries the contact point 15 for engagingwith the contact point it; on spring 13, and also carrics a contactpoint 17 for engaging the contact point 19 extending from the normalcontact spring 12. At. the lower end all the springs are clampedtogether and secured to the supporting bar 1 by the screws 1.),insulation strips 20 intervening to insulate the springs from each otherand from the mounting bar. with the exception of the contact spring andthe dummy spring. which lie directly in cngagcmcnt with each other asshown. 'lhc dummy spring has the opening 21 through which projects thecontact 18, this opening bcing suilicicntly large to prevent contact ofsaid point with the dummy spring. The contact springs ll are givensutlicient spring tension so that they will normally hold their contactpoints 17 in tirm electrical engagement with the contacts 18, andsprings ll and 123 are normally disconnected. 'lhc lcnglh of eachcontact 18 is also such that alternate springs 13, the exact purpose of.which will appear later.

Each set of listening-in springs comprises a long actuating sprii'ig 22having the outlurned end J3 engaged by the corresponding cam rollerwhile the contact spring 24 of the set is shorter, its contact point 25being normally disengaged fromthe contact point 26 on the actuatingspring. The lower ends of these springs are also held in place by thescrews 10 and are separated by insulating strips 21, the sets of springsbeing separated by a main insulating block 27, as shown; The angle andposition of the ends 23 is such that when the cam lever is rotated thecam rollers will engage the ends and the cam levci' bc hcld in itsactuated position, and when the cam lever is given a slight touch towardits normal position it will jump or snap back to its normal position.The dummy sprii'igs l4 and the actuating springs 22 arc given an inwardspring tendcncy. so that they will engage the cam rollcrs to normallyhold and balance the cam lever in a vertical position. lhis springtendency can be given the dummy springs 1-.l without in any wayall'ccting therin'ging circuit springs. \Vhcn the key lover is movedinto locking engagem nt with the actuating springs to connect in theopera-- tors telephone set and is theirstartcd toward normal position,it will be thrown toward normal position by the actuating springs andits inertia will carry it a considerable distance beyond the normalplane and the rollcrs will land against the dunui'iy springs but. asbclorc stated. lhcsc dummy springs are given sntlicient lccway of motionso that the blow struck them by the returning cani lcvcr will not .movethem a sullicicnt distance to afl'cct. in any way the other contactsprings of. the ringing sets, and it is only a l'tcr the kcy is manuallymoved a much greater distance into the ringing position that the dummysprings will be moved suflicicntly to carry the contact springsfll fromthe normal springs 12 and into engagement with the alternate springs 13. In practice the normal springs 12 are connected with the cord strandsections of the calling side and the contact. springs 11 normallycoiincct with the cord strands of the called side. and if the actuatingcontact springs were moved sullicicntly upon recoil of the key to brcakcontact bctwccn springs 11 and ti, the cord circuit would be opened foran instant,whi(:h would produce a disagreeable click in the subscribefstelephone, hence the importance of means such as the dummy springs forpreventing such circuit disturbances.

The key shown and described is only one of the many forms for carryingout my invention. the broad and main Feature of which lies in theprovision of springs means which will assist in balancing the key in anormal position without in any way a tl'ects ing the ellicient operationof the associate springs, and which will take up the recoil ot the camlever without in any way affectingthe position or operation of theassociate springs.

Having thus described my invention, I de sire to secure by LettersPatent the following claims i l. in a telephone key, the combination ofa supporting 'l'rame, an actuating leger, a stationary contact spring, amovable contact spring, and a flexible member tor transmitting themovemei'it ot the key to the movable contact sprin said member havingindependent movement betore engaging said contact spring saidindependent movementett'ecting no change in the circuits controlled bythe key.

In an operators telephone key. the combination of a supporting frame, asta' tionary spring supported from tln frame, a movable spring supportedfrom the frame, an actuating spring member disposed between the contactsprings, an actuatin lever engaged by said actuating spring, saidactuating spring being normally disconnected from the contact springsand adapted upon actuation ot the lever to be first moved alone and thenwith the movable contact spring to change the contact relations betweenthe contact springs.

3. In an operators telephone key, the combination of a supportingt'ramc, two contact springs supported from said frame, an actuating-spring member extending lMr tween the contact sp ings but normallydisconnected trom their contact ends, a key lever associated with theactnatii'ig spring, act uat ionot' said key lever causing said actuatingspring to move first alone and then to change the contact relationsbetween the contact springs.

4-. in an operators telephone key, the combination of a supportingframe, a plurality of contact springs extending from the supportingtrame, an independent actuating member associated with the contactsprings, a key lever associated with the actuating member, actuation ofthe key lever causing the actuating member to move first alone and thento actuate the contact springs to change their contact relations.

5. In an operatous tcleplume key, the combination of a supporting trame,parallel contact springs extending from the supporting frame andhavingcontact points at. their ends. a. key lever, an independentactuating member extending parallel with the contact springs and beyondsaid springs into engagement with the key lever, said actuating memberbeing normally separated from the ends 01 the contact springs wherebyactuation of the key lever will cause independent; movement at theactuating member through a considerable distance bet'ore said actuatingmember causes actuation of the contact springs.

ti. In an operators telephone key, the combination of a supportingframe, a middle contact spring, an inside contact spring, an outsidecontact spring, said springs be ing parallel with ach other andsupported 't'rom the frame, a key lever pivoted from the frame above thecontact springs, a dummy spring extending upwardly between the springsand into engagement with the key, said dummy spring being normallydisconnected 'lrom the contact springs whereby when the key is actuatedsaid dummy spring may lirst move indcpendentot the contact springs betorc engaging therewith to changetheir contact relations.

T. in an operators telephone key, the combination of contact springsadapted for connection with telephone circuits, a key lever and a dummyspring member associated with the contact springs and adapted to beengaged by'the key lever when actuated, said dummy spring being normallydisconnected from the contact springs so that upon actuation of the keylever said dummy spring will first move independently and then engagewith the contact springs to-alter the contact relations.

8. In an operators telephone key, the comdummy spring assisting inholding the keylever in its normal position and said dummy spring beingnormally disconnected from the contact springs, actuation of the keylever causing the dnnnny spring to move first alone and then to changethe contact relations of the contact springs.

9. In an operators ringing and listening key for telephone systems, thecombination of a key lever, a set of ringing circuit-controlling contaetsprings, a set of operators telephone circuit-controlling contactsprings, actuating means extending from the opera tors telephonecircuit-controlling springs to be engaged by the key lever, actuatingmeans extending from the ringing cireuit-controlling springs to beactuated by the key lever, said actuating means normally retaining thekey lever in a normal position, means for locking the key lever after ithas been moved to engage the actuating means of the operators telephonecircuit-coutrolling springs,

and means for preventing disturbance of the contact relations of theringing circuitcontrolling contact springs when the key lever is thrownback to its normal position.

10. In a telephone key, the combination of a supporting frame, anactuating lever, a movab c contact spring, and a flexible member'fortransmitting the movement of the key to the movable contact spring, saidmember l avmg independent movement betore engaging said contact spring,said independent movement effecting no change in the circuits controlledby the key. In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 25thday of July'A. D., 1907. 15

.RAY H. M ANSUN.

\Vitncsses:

T. A. CORNELL, A. J. ltumm'l's.

